


Metagaming Magic

by Kika988



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Established Relationship, Keith is the DM, M/M, Monsters & Mana (Voltron), what could possibly go wrong
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-24
Updated: 2019-12-24
Packaged: 2021-02-18 08:56:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,581
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21941494
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kika988/pseuds/Kika988
Summary: Keith offers to DM a game of Monsters and Mana when Coran falls ill. It seems like a typical dungeon crawl, but he's got something a little special behind the DM screen.
Relationships: Keith/Shiro (Voltron)
Comments: 47
Kudos: 156
Collections: Ace Pilot Exchange 2019





	Metagaming Magic

**Author's Note:**

  * For [uwukeres](https://archiveofourown.org/users/uwukeres/gifts).



> This was written for a Discord server gift exchange, and I have no idea what I'm even doing here, honestly. Merry Christmas, Tron! Thanks for giving me such a great prompt list to work with -- I hope you enjoy this ridiculous nonsense <3
> 
> As an additional note, there is an image used in this fic, but I couldn't figure out how to make it responsive on mobile. Due to that, instead of using alt text I described the image below it so that those of you on mobile don't have to struggle to read it.

"Raise your intelligence." Shiro looks up at Keith, who's peering over his shoulder as he works on his new character for the one-shot.

"Metagaming much?" Shiro asks, laughing as he adjusts his stats. Keith grins, leaning in to press a kiss to the side of Shiro's neck. 

"Hey, dating the DM ought to come with _some_ perks, right?" Keith says. Shiro huffs out a laugh. 

"Yeah, I guess. Too bad Coran's sick, though. Are you sure you're up for this? Seems like a lot of planning for a last-minute one-shot."

Keith waves away his concerns. "It's fine — it's an idea I've had for a while, so it really only needed a little fleshing out."

Shiro raises his eyebrows. "You've never mentioned wanting to run a game before."

"It gave me something to think about on long missions," Keith says with a shrug. He reaches out, plucking the pad from Shiro's hand. "Now, let me see what you've got…"

* * *

"We've checked every room in this place," Lance whines. "I bet that asshole just sent us in here chasing after something that doesn't exist."

"That would explain why Keith wanted us all to use our real names in the game," Pidge says wryly. "That way it's like watching the _real_ us suffer."

"Or maybe I didn't want to have to memorize new character names for a one-shot," Keith points out reasonably.

"Come on, guys," Shiro says, encouraging as always. "There's got to be something here. We're missing something. Keith wouldn't have designed a whole game to lead into a dead end."

Hunk doesn't look convinced, but they give the whole house another thorough once-over from top to bottom. They've already taken out a variety of creatures that had been holed up in the abandoned mansion, including some diseased rats, some sort of dog creature with two heads and three poisonous tails, and some truly horrific undead spiders, so the search goes a lot faster this time.

As they're inspecting the basement, Allura rolls high enough on her investigation roll to find what they'd missed last time.

"A secret door!" she crows victoriously. "Lance, can you-"

"Sure thing, babe," Lance says smugly, marching over and throwing the door open before anyone can protest. There's a flash and a bang, and suddenly he's on his ass halfway across the room.

"....I was going to say _check for traps_ ," Allura sighs.

"I did," Lance says defensively. "I found the trap, right?"

The group troops down the tunnel revealed by the explosion, led by Allura and her elf's inarguably superior night vision. It turns into a traditional dungeon crawl as they dodge traps, fight kobolds, and roll perception checks as they attempt to navigate the dungeon's twisting passages.

"Who even has a whole cavern system hidden under their house?" Pidge grumbles as she finishes taking out the latest kobold. 

"Someone who has a 'most rare and precious treasure' to protect, I imagine," Allura says, shrugging. 

"I'm just worried about what he has protecting this rare and precious treasure," Hunk says. "It can't just be kobolds, right?"

* * *

"I told you!" Hunk shrieks fifteen minutes later, immediately being hit by a petrification ray from the beholder they're fighting. 

"It's gonna use a legendary action," Keith says, staring down at his notes, his brow creased in concentration. "Lance, make a wisdom saving throw."

"Me?!" Lance squawks, whining a little at the number that appears on his die. "Four. Maybe we should run, guys."

"You don't actually get to say that, because you fall asleep," Keith says, grinning.

"We can't run," Allura says. "My turn, right? I cast Bestow Curse."

"It…" Keith pauses to roll. "....succeeds its saving throw," he says, shooting Allura an apologetic look. 

The fight continues for half an hour, with the players slowly working their way through their spells and abilities as the beholder hits them with a variety of eye rays that in turn frightens, slows, shoves, and paralyzes them — on top, of course, of devastating amounts of damage. 

"That was my last heal spell," Pidge warns as she brings Hunk back from the brink. 

"I'm all out of Lay on Hands," Shiro admits.

"I've got one left," Allura chimes in.

"Maybe we _should_ run," Shiro says begrudgingly, leaning over to look at his party members' hit point counts. "We're going to TPK at this rate."

"No!" Pidge and Allura say, almost in unison. They shoot each other a look, then turn to Shiro.

"We can't just abandon this quest!" Allura insists. "He said it was so important."

"And we've already been hurting this thing," Pidge adds, scowling. "How much more life can it actually have?" She turns, almost glaring at Keith, who shrugs. 

"It looks hurt," he offers, glancing almost nervously at Shiro. "But it's hard for you to tell _how_ hurt. I mean, it's a giant eyeball. It _is_ missing a couple eyestalks, though."

"Are you _sure_ it isn't in its death throes?" Allura asks, pointedly. 

Keith swallows hard. Shiro frowns. 

"Stop trying to pressure him," Shiro says firmly. "That's metagaming. Besides, whether we defeat it or not, we'll do it fairly."

Keith nods, resolute, but he still blanches when he rolls damage on the next hit. 

"That's, uh. 47 points of damage," he says faintly. 

"Yeah, I'm down," Shiro says, cringing. "Sorry, guys." 

"Dammit, Keith," Allura mutters under her breath. Keith shrugs at her and she sighs. "I cast healing word on Shiro. That's my last healing spell, so _make it count_ ," she tells him, her expression fierce. Shiro raises his eyebrows a bit — they're all competitive to _some_ degree, but he's never seen Allura get _this_ into a game. 

"Alright, I'll try to hit it," Shiro says. He rolls, and— 

"Natural twenty!" Lance crows victoriously, leaning over to high-five Shiro. 

"Nice, man!" Hunk says, grinning. "Come on, finish this thing off!" 

Between the crit and divine smite, the beholder is soon dead at Shiro's feet. 

"Not too scary now, are you, you deflated beach ball?" Lance taunts it as he pokes it with the toe of his boot.

"It spurts something that looks vaguely like space goo all over your boots," Keith says, deadpan. 

"Come on, guys, we're here with a purpose, remember?" Shiro says, grinning. He turns back to Keith, his expression softening, as it always does when he looks at him. "Can I look for the treasure?" 

"Sure," Keith agrees easily. "Make an investigation check." 

One unlikely high roll later, Shiro has found a recess in a pillar near the back of the room.

"Inside is a small, plain wooden box," Keith says slowly. 

"I'll reach in and take it," Shiro says.

"No one in this party _ever_ checks for traps," Pidge sighs. 

"You reach in and—" Keith pauses, then reaches under the table and emerges with a wooden box, small enough to sit in the palm of his hand. 

"You have a prop?" Lance exclaims. "Coran never has any props!"

Shiro accepts the box from Keith almost reverently. He looks across at him, eyebrows raised in question, and Keith nods. Slowly, carefully, Shiro opens the box. 

A plain ring, made of a shining black metal, sits inside. Shiro stares at it for a long moment before looking back up at Keith.

"Can I cast detect magic?"

"You can," Keith says. "It seems to resonate with some sort of abjuration magic. It doesn't seem to be harmful or evil in any way."

"We all need a short rest anyway," Pidge points out. "Why don't you attune to it?"

"Alright," Shiro agrees, his eyes never leaving Keith's face. "I'll attune to it." 

Keith nods slowly, takes a deep breath, then slides a card across the table.

  
  


_[Image: A D &D magic item card labelled "Ring of Engagement". The lower text reads "This gleaming ring emits a sense of safety and comfort, and adjusts to fit perfectly when worn. In-game, the wearer recieves a +2 to AC and, when worn by a Paladin, twice the standard daily HP allotment of Lay on Hands. In real life, the player who owns this ring has the DM's undying love and devotion, regardless of his answer to the question: Will you marry me?"]_

Shiro reads the card, then reads it again, before looking up at Keith with wide eyes.

"Keith, are you—"

"Yeah," Keith says, laughing a little. "Sorry, I know it's dumb, but—"

" _No_ , it's not," Shiro says, standing up, already reaching for Keith. "Keith, baby, it's perfect. It's _perfect_." He pulls Keith up out of his chair and kisses him hard, the ring box still clutched in his hand. " _You're_ perfect," he adds when he pulls away. 

"So, um," Keith says, looking a little dazed. "Is that a yes?" He hears someone snort at the table behind him, but he doesn't have eyes for anyone but Shiro, who laughs before pressing another kiss to Keith's lips. 

"It's a yes, Keith. Yes. Always."

Keith grins, and reaches into the box to pull out the ring. Out in the light, the words etched into the inside of the band — _We Saved Each Other_ — are finally visible. He slips the ring onto Shiro's finger, breathing a sigh of relief when it fits perfectly. 

"I made this card up months ago," Keith admits. "I'm glad that after all this time, you still only ever want to play paladins, or I'd have had to remake it."

"I like being a paladin," Shiro says, running his thumb over the ring. "I think I'll like being your husband more, though."

**Author's Note:**

> Come say hi on [Twitter](https://twitter.com/kika988_)!


End file.
